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Buy Total War™: ROME II – Hannibal at the Gates

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Total War™: ROME II – Hannibal at the Gates

Dropping you into the Western Mediterranean at the outbreak of the 2nd Punic War, Hannibal at the Gates features a new campaign map focused on the period that brought the ancient-world superpowers of Rome and Carthage to all-out war.

One of the most famous in history, the conflict demonstrated the tactical genius of great rival generals Scipio and Hannibal. Can you recreate their remarkable strategies, or can you do better? How will you change history?

You enter the war as Carthage or Rome, command the noble Hellenic city-state of Syracuse, or, for the first time in ROME II, play an Iberian faction as the Arevaci or the Lusitani.

Hannibal at the Gates also features:

New Campaign Map:

A more detailed representation of the western Mediterranean than the ROME II map, with players able to expand across 19 provinces dotted with resources and settlements. The major powers of the time, Rome and Carthage, begin at loggerheads but with a number of key regions and client states under their control. Syracuse, the Arevaci and the Lusitani all start with a single region, offering a significantly different and more formidable challenge than playing as one of the two great empires.

Diplomacy-focused Technology:

Rome and Carthage both feature new civil tech-tree branches focused on diplomacy. Both sides begin with multiple allies and client states, and can undermine their opponents’ support by diplomatic means.

12 Turns per-year:

With a time period covering events between 218 - 202BC, each turn in Hannibal at the Gates represents a month, and the campaign transitions through all four seasons of the year, complete with seasonal gameplay effects.

Compact, focused Multiplayer Campaign:
For those generals seeking a more rapid Multiplayer Campaign game, Hannibal at the Gates’ tighter geographic scope makes co-op or competitive 2-player campaigns more focused and faster than a full Grand Campaign.

New Historical Battles:

Hannibal at the Gates adds two new Historical Battles: the Battle of Cannae (216BC) and the Battle of Zama (202BC). Both battles marked key points in the 2nd Punic War, with Cannae representing the high point of Hannibal's invasion of Italy, and Zama marking the completion of Rome's victory and dominance over Carthage.

New Playable Factions for Total War™: ROME II

In addition to mighty Carthage and Rome, players can fight the 2nd Punic War as three new factions: the Arevaci, the Lusitani and Syracuse, each one featuring its own faction traits, characteristics, unique units and campaign start-position. If Hannibal at the Gates is owned, these factions are also playable in the ROME II Grand Campaign.

The Arevaci

Imperialist expansion has brought both Carthage and Rome to the Arevaci's door, although it is Hannibal that currently shares a border with the warlike Celtiberian tribe. As the campaign begins, the Arevaci are neutral but have a clear choice before them: unite with Hannibal and risk genocidal retaliation from the Romans, or remain on good terms with Rome and face the certainty of Carthaginian wrath. Despite their knowledge of the terrain and superb fighting prowess, the Arevaci cannot take on both superpowers at once. For now, they maintain their neutrality, but it cannot last. Someone must control the Iberian peninsula, could it be the Arevaci?

The Lusitani

The Lusitani lived in Iberia long before Carthage or Rome disturbed the region. They are, like their distant cousins the Suebi, not a single clan but a confederation of smaller tribes, working together for defensive and mutual gain Fierce and agile warriors, the Lusitani are well suited to guerrilla warfare. As Hannibal’s Carthaginian army marches through lands previously controlled by Rome, there is opportunity for the Lusitani to expand beyond their bounds and claim back Iberia from its invaders. However, though there may be prudence in caution, even fraternisation with the enemy at first, eventually they must be expelled from the land!

Syracuse

The city-state of Syracuse is renowned throughout the ancient world as a centre for culture and science. It is also rich; Syracuse benefits greatly from its prime position in the central Mediterranean. A string of tyrants dominate its history, defending the city's autonomy against fellow Greeks, Carthaginians and threats from within. In 218BC, both Rome and Carthage would like to see Syracuse under their control once and for all. As the two superpowers go to war again, it stands on a precipice - will Syracuse forge its own destiny or fall into obscurity as just another colonial possession?

New Units

Alongside their regular unit rosters, the playable factions in Hannibal at the Gates get the following new units. If you own Hannibal at the Gates, these units will also be available in the ROME II Grand Campaign:

In my opinion, there should be more things in this dlc, more mercenary infantry, skills, map designs, otherwise a modder could have made this in a day, so this is just CA hoarding money for another ♥♥♥♥♥♥ DLC, No Hope :/.

Probably the least mentionable of all the DLC. The Campaign is decent if you play as Carthage for a quick "history lesson", recreating Hannibals progress through the alps was pretty fun, but that seemed to be the only worth while period of the campaign, as I pretty much walked over Rome afterwards, and it was a fairly short experience/easy climb over all.

If Carthage is your favourite faciton, go hard as it displays them very well obviously, but otherwise even on sale you can probably skip this one.

Hannibal at the Gates fails to make any meaningful attempt at recreating the actual Second Punic War. That is the real purpose of a mini-campaign, to be a focused map and a focused campaign based around these historical wars. As just a sandbox, it plays no differently than the base game.

The technology trees are absurdly lazy and poorly designed, being completely incoherent. Multiple turns per year advertised as a meaningful feature, as with seasons and attrition. TPY, seasons and attrition all should have been part of the Grand Campaign.

Massilia got their new roster (and remain unplayable), but E mporion, which is their own colony, yet has the old, unfinished roster. Syracuse is a pathetic copy of Athens, literally “stealing” the “unique to Athens” Thorax and Thureos Hoplites, without having any of their own unique units (Factional Mercenaries are not relevant in this regard).

The Celt-covered Iberia prior to release was pathetic, the Iberian culture (and unique units) should have more or less been in at release. Despite the importance of the Etruscans, Samnites and Numidians in this campaign, they retain boring, unfinished rosters. The Etruscans do not even field Etruscan Hoplites, nor do the Samnites field Samnite Warriors and Campanian Cavalry.

The Boii of this campaign are related to the Boii of the GC, and should have been playable with their proper roster, for a unique start and roster. Likewise, having a Numidian faction and Italian faction playable would have meant creating meaningful rosters for them and enabled unique starts. It is a shame that the separation between “Latin/Roman” and “Italian” culture did not go into the GC, where the Samnites should have been able to rebel in southern Italia or northern Magna Graecia.

The Greek theatre is also entirely missing, with Terra Incognita taking up the East, leaving Rome completely safe in the Adriatic. During this era, Rome was beset by Illyrian pirates and Macedon was in alliance with Hannibal, and had they broken through the Roman allies in Greece, could have turned the tide of the war, but nothing interesting is done. For a game based around the concept of changing history/alternative history, leaving out the Greek theatre was a big failure. Hannibal’s time in Italy was spent raiding, yet he has no ability to Loot settlements as barbarian factions do or Liberate (which would simulate his turning Roman allies to his side). For some absurd reason, the Civil War mechanic is also in this DLC.

Not what I expected of "Hannibal" campaign.These DLCs cost very much but don't bring much value to the game.So far I didn't liked any of campaign packs for this game. It is disrespectful to game fans to charge 10$ for such DLCs.

This is, without a doubt, the worst DLC I have ever bought for Total War, and is the only one I regret so far. And that's saying a lot because I own every Total War game and 100% of their DLCs (With the exception of the new Spartan Campaign.)

Hannibal is supposed to be the feard barbarian leader of Carthage, who brought the fight to Rome and "taught Rome fear". In no way does the DLC make you feel this way. I restarted 3 seperate times and so far each time has been a total dissapointment.

Units in this DLC have not changed from the Grand Campaign. As far as I can tell, Hannibal is the only thing added. Carthage's hoplites are the stuff of legends... but the ones in the game are far from it. Play as Sparta, Athens, Mecedon, even Persia... you will experience the strength's and weaknesses of Hoplites. Carthage's hoplites in this campaign lack the fortitude to sell Girl Scout cookies. And the ELEPHANTS? After playing my other campaigns and factions, I have experienced the wrath of elephant units before. Devestating Cav that break lines and shred troops.... well, except the ones you use as Carthage in this campaign. The go berserk at the first sign of combat, and ultimately just do damage to your men. Seeing as Hannibal is riding them as a general unit, just consider yourself screwed.

Economically, the campaign is just bland. It's easier/more interesting to play Carthage on the Grand Campaign, and from there you can conquer the full map. Ultimately that's what this DLC campaign feels like: They took a partial section of the map, blew it up a little, and gave you the same ♥♥♥♥♥♥ units they handed carthage in the first place.

I guess this campaign might be good if you like having smaller maps to dominate as Rome. Otherwise, just save your 15 dollars or buy something else, because you can just mod the grand campaign and have more fun. This was a waste and I wish I could get my money back.

Pros:Hannibal Barca.Seasons and Turns make sense in this DLC.Delves a bit deeper than the base game into the Iberian factions.Fun to play, a lot more immersive than the base game.Difficulties are better set on this map, Legendary is Legendary, Easy is Easy.

Cons:Some path issues, especially on sea.

Overall: Best DLC you can own. Especially with the new factions and units added.

AH.... Hannibal at the Gates DLC - WOW, I have completed this twice(ignore the 0.0 hours as it must count towards the whole game) - it is fantastic, A Rome II fans Punic Wars DLC dream. I have completed it with "ROME & CARTHAGE" and with Radious mods installed and the new units and fixes are a welcomed bonus - this is in my opinion a bit better than "Caeser in Gaul" DLC as it offers more scope, you get a good selection of units IMO, but to explain... I enjoyed every aspect of this DLC - diversity, the "Punic" period, small but large campaign map - new models for generals/unit parts everything has been adapted properly, plus the bonus of modding is a Godsend.So if you are planning to buy this DLC - please feel free to do so as you won't be dissapointed, I wasn't but also try out mods from the "STEAM WORKSHOP" & also check out "TotalWar.com as they have many-a-mod for your needs.